The golden days of the sport of boxing are long gone. The best matchups fall through as paper champions fight over money instead of one’s honor and legacy. The supposed rematch between Orlando Salido and Vasyl Lomachenko is no different.

Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1) is one of the boxing’s most talented practitioners today. So much so that he became a world champion in only after his third fight. Boxing analysts believe he should have achieved that record during his second career fight against Orlando Salido, but the judges saw it the other way, thus leaving fight fans in a cloud of controversy.

A rematch between Orlando Salido versus Vasyl Lomachenko has been in the works now that “Hi-Tech” is a two-weight division champion. Orlando Salido (43-13-4-1 NC) has lost one fight and ended up with two draws since.

Orlando “chickens out” against Vasyl Lomachenko

There is no need to stress out the necessity of a rematch. Boxing fans have long called out for closure to the controversy. Money seemed to be the last negotiating point to finalizing the contract, and Bob Arum has duly addressed this.

“Orlando Salido chickened out,” Bob Arum said in a report by BadLeftHook. “It’s the only way to say it. He asked for crazy money. We agreed to the crazy money. And then he says, ‘No.’

“He’d just as soon not take the fight. Why? Because he knows he can’t beat (Vasyl Lomachenko). It was a fluke the first time. So, there’s no other way to paint it…”

Orlando Salido ‘s team voiced out that they plan on a rematch with Francisco Vargas instead, to whom Salido fought to a draw. “Orlando voiced to me, ‘Hey, why do I want to fight a guy in Lomachenko who I know is going to run, grab and hold when I can go Mexican-to-Mexican with Francisco Vargas and give the people what they really want to see. The only guys who want to see Lomachenko — are Lomachenko,” Salido’s manager Sean Gibbons said.

Jezreel Corrales vs. Vasyl Lomachenko

The lesser-known Panamanian WBA super featherweight champion Jezreel Corrales is entertaining the idea of a unification bout against Hi-Tech. The two were negotiating for a fight before Lomachenko faced Nicholas Walters instead.

“We want to do one or two defenses this year, we’ll have no trouble doing that,” Jezreel Corrales ‘ lawyer said in a report by BoxingScene. “If there is a possibility of a unification with Vasyl Lomachenko we would do it, but as long as there is an interesting offer.” It’s a matchup that may end up successfully, albeit down the same infamous road.